After Kong Mingan finished speaking, the laboratory fell silent once more. What he had explained was very clear; the pros and cons of removing residual Souls from spirit rings were stark. Both the opportunities and the challenges were immense.
Success meant that a single spirit ring could possess multiple Spirit Abilities. For traditional Spirit Masters who generally only had nine Spirit Abilities, this was a massive advantage in power. However, failure meant directly ruining a spirit ring, leading to missing Spirit Abilities. For most Spirit Masters, this would be a direct loss of combat power.
"This technology is still in the experimental stage, and even the basic theory has many problems," Kong Mingan spoke truthfully. "Therefore, I will not make this part of the research public for now. You can just listen to it for now".
The current sample size was too small. Including him, the true results were only from himself and Electrolux. They were not exactly normal people. Kong Mingan had powerful control over energy, which allowed him to stop experiments at any time to stay safe. As for Electrolux, his residual Soul was incredibly high-quality, and his terrifying experience meant failures were rare. Their success could be seen as isolated cases and did not yet apply to everyone.
But the world never lacked gamblers. Many Spirit Masters would risk using a spirit ring as a stake to gain more abilities.
"Mingan, I think I can do it," Xiao Hongchen declared confidently.
Kong Mingan glanced at him and shook his head. "No, you can't".
Xiao Hongchen's face turned red again. He felt insulted that he was denied so quickly. Kong Mingan was used to this reaction. He reached into his storage spirit tool ring and took out ten special, circular, silver-white spirit tools. He then looked at his elder.
"Grandpa, this item is called a Soul Catcher," Kong Mingan explained. "It can extract residual Souls from spirit rings below a thousand years and purify the ring, just like mine". "Keep one for yourself and give the others to people you trust. Have them record their process of understanding the spirit ring and give those records to me".
Kong Deming understood immediately and put away the ten Soul Catchers. Kong Mingan simply wanted to collect more samples. No theory could stand without actual results and evidence. The Level 9 Spirit Engineers under his elder were perfect samples. They had great control over spirit power and mental force, and they didn't value spirit rings as much as traditional fighters did. Since they were part of the family, it was also a way to keep the benefits close to home.
Kong Mingan glanced at Meng Hongchen, who was still thinking, and Xiao Hongchen, who looked ready to argue. He smiled to comfort them. "Don't rush. Just cultivate step by step. If everything goes well, you will eventually enjoy the final results".
"Really?" they asked.
"Absolutely," he replied.
A moment later, Kong Deming and the others left the laboratory, and it became quiet again. Kong Mingan stood up and walked to a workbench. He tapped it a few times, and a hidden compartment opened in the wall. Inside was a dignified old man with a flowing white beard.
If a wicked Spirit Master from the Holy Spirit Cult were there, they would recognize him as the Second Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult and Alliance Master of the Sunset Water Alliance, Nangong Wan. He was supposed to be in secluded cultivation.
Kong Mingan tapped his forehead, and the Eye of Life opened. A gray stream of light entered Nangong Wan's body. The old man opened his eyes and walked out stiffly.
"Electrolux, thank you," Kong Mingan said with gratitude. Much of his success was due to Electrolux's efforts.
"No need," Electrolux replied, shaking his head while using the body. "The research has benefited me too. Without your ideas, I wouldn't have thought of using a body this way".
Electrolux revealed his spirit rings. Nine gray spirit rings, engraved with magical circuits, appeared around him. His aura was stronger than an ordinary Titled Douluo. This was another achievement of the past year.
They had realized that cleaning a spirit ring could make it a vessel for a Soul. They theorized that if a Spirit Master's Soul was removed and their rings were cleaned, another Soul could control the body using those rings. They tested this Possession Method on three wicked Spirit Masters who were at the Spirit King, Spirit Saint, and Spirit Douluo levels.
The method was actually more like a Puppet method. For Electrolux, a Titled Douluo body was required. Kong Mingan had chosen Nangong Wan, a Level 92 wicked Spirit Master in the capital. His elder, a Level 97 Titled Douluo, had captured him in a sneak attack and handed him over.